Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) announced on Tuesday that they have jointly awarded S$4.5 million in grants to six collaborative research projects in infectious diseases.

The first joint grant call between A*Star and MRC, each project aims to contribute towards developing a treatment, vaccine or antimicrobial product for infectious diseases such as gastric flu, hepatitis B, dengue fever and tuberculosis.

Said Executive Director of A*Star's Biomedical Research Council, Prof Lee Eng Hin: 'By bringing the two communities together, we aim to accelerate knowledge creation with the goal of treating, eradicating and preventing infectious disease, and improving human health'.

Wendy Ewart, Director of Strategy for the MRC, added: 'Supporting this breadth of research projects will tackle some of the most important diseases across the globe that kill millions of people each year. This international partnership will fund the highest quality science to deliver a wealth of knowledge, helping to develop future treatments and ultimately save thousands of lives'.

The programme aims to promote R&D collaboration between Singapore public sector research organisations, such as A*Star's Singapore Immunology Network, and UK-based public institutes such as the University of Birmingham, via joint scientific projects in areas of common interest.

The A*Star-MRC joint grant call is the first under the A*Star-MRC Collaborative Research Fund, which was established in 2008 following productive workshops and travel grants under the "UK-Singapore Partners in Science" programme.